eyes were closed and his face was black with powder smoke.
"Why, Pierre! What is it? Where have you been?"
The dog whimpered and crowded against the man's legs as though he would get closer to him. Then the sentry chanced to run his hand under the dog's collar and discovered the tube, and the dog's plight and his eagerness were made plain to him. In another minute he was running towards the general's tent, with Pierre in his arms.
Five minutes later the general was poring over the message from the beleaguered division and this was what he read:
"We are cut off. Will have to surrender in twenty-four hours. Can you rush help to us?"
Even in this great exigency, the general ordered Pierre turned over to the best sur-
